In the electrical utilities industry, maintaining cable integrity may be critical. A loss of cable integrity, for example, a short circuit in a high voltage cable, may result in a crippling power outage or, even worse, a loss of life. One everyday task that may pose a great threat to cable integrity is the formation of electrical connections.
When electrical connections are formed, a bare metal surface may be exposed such as a splice connector. These bare metal surfaces may be particularly hazardous when formed in the field where they are exposed to the environment. This environment may include rocks and other sharp objects as well as moisture when the connection is to be buried under ground and rainfall when the connection is to be suspended in the air. Thus, there is a need to protect such electrical connections from the environment.
Also, electrical stress concentrations in cable terminations can cause degradation of cable insulation. To address this problem, terminations are commonly provided with stress control elements (e.g., a stress cone or high-K layer). However, in practice such terminations may be installed improperly in such a manner that the stress control element is rendered ineffective or less effective.